Job 4
Christian Standard Bible
First Series of Speeches
Eliphaz Speaks
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 Should anyone try to speak with you
when you are exhausted?
Yet who can keep from speaking?
3 Indeed, you have instructed many
and have strengthened(A) weak hands.
4 Your words have steadied the one who was stumbling
and braced the knees that were buckling.(B)
5 But now that this has happened to you,
you have become exhausted.
It strikes(C) you, and you are dismayed.
6 Isn’t your piety your confidence,
and the integrity of your life[a] your hope?(D)
7 Consider: Who has perished when he was innocent?
Where have the honest[b] been destroyed?(E)
8 In my experience, those who plow injustice
and those who sow trouble(F) reap the same.(G)
9 They perish at a single blast(H) from God
and come to an end by the breath of his nostrils.(I)
10 The lion may roar and the fierce lion(J) growl,
but the teeth of young lions are broken.(K)
11 The strong lion dies if it catches no prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.(L)
12 A word was brought to me in secret;
my ears caught a whisper of it.(M)
13 Among unsettling thoughts from visions in the night,(N)
when deep sleep(O) comes over men,
14 fear and trembling came over me(P)
and made all my bones shake.
15 I felt a draft[c] on my face,
and the hair on my body stood up.
16 A figure stood there,
but I could not recognize its appearance;
a form loomed before my eyes.
I heard a whispering voice:
17 “Can a mortal be righteous before God?
Can a man be more pure than his Maker?” (Q)
18 If God puts no trust in his servants
and he charges his angels with foolishness,[d](R)
19 how much more those who dwell in clay houses,(S)
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed like a moth!
20 They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk;
they perish forever while no one notices.(T)
21 Are their tent cords not pulled up?
They die without wisdom.(U)
Job 4
Living Bible
4 A reply to Job from Eliphaz the Temanite:
2 “Will you let me say a word? For who could keep from speaking out? 3-4 In the past[a] you have told many a troubled soul to trust in God and have encouraged those who are weak or falling, or lie crushed upon the ground or are tempted to despair. 5 But now when trouble strikes, you faint and are broken.
6 “At such a time as this should not trust in God still be your confidence? Shouldn’t you believe that God will care for those who are good?[b] 7-8 Stop and think! Have you ever known a truly good and innocent person who was punished? Experience teaches that it is those who sow sin and trouble who harvest the same. 9 They die beneath the hand of God. 10 Though they are fierce as young lions, they shall all be broken and destroyed. 11 Like aged, helpless lions they shall starve, and all their children shall be scattered.
12 “This truth was given me in secret, as though whispered in my ear. 13 It came in a nighttime vision as others slept. 14 Suddenly, fear gripped me; I trembled and shook with terror, 15 as a spirit passed before my face—my hair stood up on end. 16 I felt the spirit’s presence, but couldn’t see it standing there. Then out of the dreadful silence came this voice:
17 “‘Is mere man more just than God? More pure than his Creator?’
18-19 “If God cannot trust his own messengers (for even angels make mistakes), how much less men made of dust, who are crushed to death as easily as moths! 20 They are alive in the morning, but by evening they are dead, gone forever with hardly a thought from anyone. 21 Their candle of life is snuffed out. They die and no one cares.
Job 4
Traducción en lenguaje actual
Primera respuesta de Elifaz
4 Elifaz le dijo a Job:
2 «Puede ser que no te guste
lo que tengo que decirte,
pero no puedo quedarme callado.
3 Si bien recuerdo,
tú fuiste maestro de muchos
y animabas a los desanimados;
4 palabras no te faltaban
para alentar a los tristes
y apoyar a los débiles.
5 Pero ahora que sufres,
no lo soportas
y te das por vencido.
6 Según tú, no haces nada malo,
¿por qué entonces desconfías de Dios?
7 »¡No me vayas a decir
que quien hace lo bueno
sufre y acaba mal!
8 He podido comprobar
que quien mal anda mal acaba.
9 »Cuando Dios se enoja,
con un soplo destruye al malvado,
10-11 y aunque ruja o gruña como león,
Dios le romperá los dientes.
Como no podrá comer,
se morirá de hambre,
y sus hijos tendrán que huir.
12 »Alguien me confió un secreto,
que apenas pude escuchar.
13 Mientras todo el mundo dormía,
tuve un sueño, y perdí la calma.
14 ¡Fue tanto el miedo que sentí,
que todo el cuerpo me temblaba!
15 Sentí en la cara un viento helado,
y se me erizaron los pelos.
16 ¡Sabía que alguien estaba allí,
pero no podía verlo!
Todo alrededor era silencio.
De pronto oí que alguien decía:
17 “Nadie es mejor que su creador.
¡Ante él, no hay inocentes!
18 Dios ni en sus ángeles confía,
pues hasta ellos le fallan;
19 ¡mucho menos va a confiar
en nosotros los humanos!
Estamos hechos de barro,
y somos frágiles como polillas.
20-21 ”En esta vida estamos de paso;
un día nacemos
y otro día morimos.
¡Desaparecemos para siempre,
sin que a nadie le importe!
¡Morimos sin llegar a ser sabios!”
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